Other candidates talk about bringing neighborhoods back.   Kristin Palmer has dedicated her life to this work.

Her years-long efforts on behalf Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO) and the PRC’s Christmas in October program have improved the quality of life for countless low-income, elderly, and physically disabled homeowners through home repair and the revitalization of their neighborhoods.

From St. Roch to Hollygrove, over 400 New Orleans residents are back in their homes because of her labors, and through her efforts over 10,000 volunteers came to the Crescent City after Katrina to help with the clean-up and rebuilding of damaged houses.

The Salvage Store on St. Claude-which Palmer helped found-not only receives architectural salvage from homes that are being demolished so that those materials can be utilized in rebuilds, but it is a place where the reclaimed windows, doors, and other classically New Orleans architectural elements are sold to general public at far below what similar materials would cost local consumers on the open market.  It is the ultimate conservation and recycling program that at the same time directly benefits the poorest of the Crescent City’s homeowners seeking to restore their residences.

From the playgrounds for which Palmer raised money to re-outfit in Algiers to the homes her non-profit efforts repaired on the East Bank, few candidates this election season both bridge the river-and the needs of the city-better than Kristin Palmer.

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